The Darkness of Day

by WalkingPotterGirl14

He put a dagger in her heart. She died. End of story. Or was it? The Gods decide that there's more to tell, more to save, and more heartbreak to follow in the story of Daenerys and Jon's lives, starting with new revelations right outside their doors. (Rated T until chapter 26, Fix-it Fic, obvious spoilers for the show)

29. Daenerys and Jon: The Hunt

Thank you guys so much for your great response on the last chapter. Thank you to:

DarylDixon'sLover

Lillian81

MiaMia

Jana

MayaFaya

SlyChoice

Perseus Apollyon

tonywarrior

Your reviews kept me going and made me push this out a little quicker. Go check out these lovely folks if ya can as they are amazing. A big welcome to the new followers and favorites, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. This was originally planned not to be as long, but I couldn't stop writing and well, you'll see. But a lot of stuff happens and I hope I did this justice, and trust me there will be more craziness to come. Hope you enjoy!

---

Daenerys

They traveled for a good amount of time before Daenerys and the rest of the people decided to call it for a couple of hours. It had been long and treacherous, and they knew that if they didn't take the time to take the break, they would run out of energy.

Dany had no clue that the lengths of Valyria had gone so far. Sure, she did know that there were fields still saved from the Doom that many people worked in, but she didn't know the forest extended massively, and that there were trees and animals galore.

A part of it almost felt like Sothoryos when she had been there with Jon – except without the bloodthirsty creatures hunting them down at every second.

Instead, it was dragons above them that were helping the Valyrians, not harming them.

Daenerys sighs quietly as she walks towards where Jon had set up an area for them to sleep in for a little bit. Her mind had been going back and forth about what might be happening to her son and the other children, what they were planning.

It was obvious that they weren't hurt – at least not seriously. She had asked the children and the people who had their own little ones stolen if any blood had been left behind, and they had all said no, which meant it had been quick. But then again, these children were not known to fight back. They were told what to do and where to go by their 'beloved' queen, so she wasn't surprised there was no blood.

However, she was a bit concerned that there wasn't for Daemon.

Her son wasn't one to go easily. She had seen how much he had been training and practicing, with his powers and his sword, and knowing him, he would have tried to fight his way out. The fact that the children, his own sister, and no one else saw blood frightened her, and she didn't know what to think. She wanted to believe that he was okay…but a part of her really didn't know.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been this nervous. Maybe when Dan was nearly killed – that was definitely up there. She had just started to grow close to her daughter and the very idea of having her taken away from her broke her heart.

Or maybe when she was trying to bring Jon back to life. She had absolutely no idea if what Kinvara had done would have worked or not. She just had to place her trust in her, and hope that maybe something might. Little did she know it would be both the red priest and her son that would bring back the love of her life.

If anyone else heard of the stresses her family had caused her, they would say to leave, never return and go on with her life, free of the chaos. But she wouldn't replace it with anyone, not for a single second. And anyone that dare suggested otherwise wouldn't understand.

Gods, Kinvara. She felt horrible for the woman.

It wasn't that Daenerys or Jon had been actively avoiding her these past six months. It was more that she had no idea where the bloody woman was. They had seen her get pulled away on their first day here, and haven't seen her since. Daenerys kept thinking that maybe she had upset the masters here, or had to pay the price, but without telling her? The person that brought Kinvara with her in the first place? That doesn't seem at all right.

And it wasn't like they hadn't tried to look for her before. There had been days where they had tried to go to the temple that they had there, but something always stopped them. Whether it was 'urgent business' with the queen, or Dan and Daemon wanted to show them something, or it was a concern with the people…Daenerys was happy to help whoever, but she was growing concerned.

She owed Kinvara her life. She shouldn't be locked away wherever she was. And one way or another, Daenerys would find out where they took her.

The dragon queen sighs as she steps into the tent, smiling at some of the common folk that waved to her. It was rather gratifying to see that many of the nobles and the people who worked for them were uniting together to find their children. She had barely ever seen people like this come together for one cause – not even in Westeros. She was proud that they were so united.

But at the same time, her head and heart hurt. All she wanted to do was find her child. To find Nesara for Zaevar. To find these bastards and bloody destroy them like they are meant to be destroyed.

Daenerys was a ruthless woman. She knew that. She was kind to her family, sweet and shy with her lover, loving to the ones she cared for and made sure that the people who deserved it got what they needed to survive and prosper. But when it came to people like the king and queen of Valyria, it was moments like this that brought out the worst in her – the killer that she knew was deep down that she had tried hard for years now to suppress.

She had made a promise when she had Daemon – no more ruthlessness. Be the queen people need you to be and move on. Don't become the woman you were. Don't be the Daenerys that burned down King's Landing.

But now, she knew the truth of why she did it. And that had changed everything.

Now, a part of her wanted to get revenge on every single person that had wronged her, that had lead her down that road where things like what happened could have happened to her. She wanted to be like her ancestors – to take back what was theirs, with fire and blood.

But she knew that wasn't what they needed right now. That wasn't what these people desired. They needed a leader who could find their children and bring them home safely from whatever the hell these people were planning, and she wasn't about to let those urges she had overtake her.

She needed to be careful too because Jon seemed like he was embracing his Targaryen side a lot lately. The way he spoke to people, the way he talked, even the way he fought. But the moment he had said to her the ancestral words of her house, she had been completely shocked. She had never heard Jon utter those words. And yet, coming from his lips, they sounded alluring, chilling, and beautiful all at the same time.

But she couldn't let him fall into this need too. She knew he was still angry at everything that happened, but he had suppressed it for she didn't even know how long, for the sake of their future, for their children. At the same time, however, a part of her wanted that too, to find those miserable bastards and make them pay.

Maybe one day, but that wouldn't be now. She had higher priorities now – which included her family.

Gods, she still remembered the look on Zaevar's face when he had told her about Nesara going missing as well. He seemed absolutely heartbroken that he wasn't there to protect her. It wasn't his fault – he literally was not in the castle when the children were taken, there was nothing he could have done. But she wished she could somehow try and reassure him that they would find her and the others, and everything would work out.

Somehow.

She sighs and finally walks inside, pulling out Dark Sister. If she and Jon were really going to try and find these people, she needed to be prepared for anything. While the Valyrian's knew the area well, she did not. Knowing how she got herself into ridiculous situations, Daenerys would end up making a wrong turn and falling into a bloody hole filled with spiders or something else more horrid.

Quietly, she sits down on the bed, taking out a whetstone that she had gotten from Jon a few days prior. Although she and Jon tried to practice, a lot of it ended in…other things, so her blade had started to grow a bit dull. She had to make sure that if something attacked, she would be ready. And hopefully, so would he.

As she sharpened her blade, her mind thought back to her daughter again, biting her lip. She knew Dan was feeling all kinds of feelings right now after what happened to her brother. She felt responsible, just as Zaevar did for Nesara, but again – there was nothing she could have done. All they could do now was try and find them as a family and keep their wits ahead of them. If they could at least do that, they would have a chance.

After a moment or two, Daenerys sighs and places the whetstone back in her pocket, looking down at the ground. She needed to be able to find her son. She just had to. And if she couldn't…Daenerys couldn't predict what she would do next.

She runs her hands through her hair and stands, going to head back out to speak with some people, but her eyes suddenly catch something on the cot that she hadn't seen before. Her mind had been so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed that there was what seemed to be a bunch of flowers on her bed, in different colors, laid into one single bunch.

Daenerys quietly walks over and picks them up into her hands, examining them. They didn't seem poisonous, which was good. The last thing she needed was some crazed assassin sneaking into her tent and somehow killing her with bloody flowers, of all things. But who would randomly leave them on her bed?

They were quite beautiful, a mixture of what looked like red lilacs and black roses, the latter of which she didn't even know existed. And on the black roses, were little hints of what seemed to be lavender, a light purple, but only specks. The blackness took over it.

"Hmm," she murmurs, glancing at the flowers. She places them down and then walks over to the flap of the tent, looking around. Quietly, her eyes search for Jon, and they finally find him speaking to Taevar again, looking down at a map by candlelight. The morning would come soon and they would leave in a few hours, but the light would help for now. "Jon!"

The man's head pops up and he looks over at Daenerys. She nods at him to come over and he does so, telling something to Taevar before rushing to her side. She pulls him into the tent quietly, before closing the flap. As soon as she closes it, he turns to her in confusion.

"What is it, Dany? Anything wrong?" he asks, his brow furrowed low. She walks over to where she placed the flowers and walks back to him with them in her hands, holding them up.

"These," she states, her eyes looking to them and then at him. "Where on earth do you think these came from?"

Jon raises an eyebrow, looking down at her. "Where did you find them, Daenerys?"

"On my bed," she answers, gesturing over to where the cot was. She was very thankful that the Valyrian's had supplies like this. Without their own help, they probably would have been sleeping on the forest floor. At this point, she didn't care what she slept on as long as she found her family, but it was a plus.

"How do you suppose they got in here, Daenerys?" he asks, and she could see the hint of a smile start to pull at the edge of his lips. She raises her brow at him.

"Obviously someone brought them in here," she states, gesturing outside now. His smile only widens, and then he starts to chuckle. She crosses her arms across her chest, placing the flowers down. "What are you playing it, Jon? Someone snuck into our tent and put flowers on my bed, and you find that laughable? I find that quite strange."

Jon looks down at her, calming his chuckles, before taking the flowers from the table she had sat them on. "Dany. I picked these for you and brought them in here."

Daenerys' mouth shuts and she looks up at Jon in surprise, shock, and then understanding. And oh so quietly, she looks at the flowers and mutters, "Oh."

She hears Jon start to laugh and her cheeks turn red from the embarrassment. In hindsight, she probably should have realized it was from him but with everything that had been happening to her, she wouldn't have been surprised if something like poison on the flowers did happen.

"Don't laugh," she responds, crossing her arms across her chest, but that only seemed to make him laugh harder. She punches him in the chest playfully but that does not stop it, and eventually, she starts to laugh a little as well, shaking her head. After a moment, she sighs and looks up at him, seeing him start to calm down. "I'm sorry…I just haven't received flowers for a long time."

"You thought they were bad?" he asks her, raising an eyebrow. "Why would anyone here want to hurt you? They love you." To that, her brow raises, and she sees the cringe in his eyes. His free hand rubs the back of his neck. "Alright, point taken, but you haven't done anything that would make someone want to hurt you. It doesn't make sense."

She sighs and nods. "I know…I've just been on edge ever since Dan told us about Daemon missing. It's not like him to just…I don't know, go along with whatever. I'm frightened of what we're going to find."

Jon rests his hand on hers, grabbing it tightly. "He's going to be okay. I promise you that."

Daenerys looks up at him before quietly taking the flowers into her hands, feeling a small smile overtake her cheeks. "Where did you find these?"

At that chance to talk about his small gift, Jon takes them quietly from her hands again. "Along the path – I think they might be native to this area. I've never seen the roses before."

"Neither have I," she replies softly. "They are beautiful."

"The red lilacs I've seen in the North," he replies, looking over at her. "In the spring when it's rarely warm, but they're there. I didn't think they would be anywhere else but I found them along the path near the roses. I saw the colors and I, uh…thought of our house." He hands them back to her. "They made me think of you. I thought it might be, I don't know…something nice despite what's happening outside."

Daenerys feels herself smile again and she looks up at Jon, before leaning in and giving him a soft peck. When she pulls back, she bumps her nose against his before opening her eyes. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you…you know you don't need to try for my affection."

Jon's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

Daenerys looks up at him, smiling a bit. "I can't even remember the last time a man openly got me flowers…ah, wait. It was Daario." Instantly, she sees the pleasant look in his eyes change to one of anger, but she reaches out and grabs his hand. "I know, I don't want to remember it either, but he was. Usually, when men give women flowers or gifts or anything like this, it's only to try and court them. Once they have them…usually, gifts don't come too often because you already have the affection of the woman."

Jon's brow raises before he shakes his head. "Dany, if you think just because we're together that I'm not going to prove to you every day that I care for you, you've actually gone mad." She chuckles a bit but feels herself smile. His hands come up to cup her face, looking down at her. "I will continue to show you your worth every day as long as I live, whether that be flowers or gifts or showering you in kisses – one shouldn't stop adoring a woman when they finally get her. Then what's the point?"

He leans down and kisses her softly, and she sighs against his lips. Her hands almost drop the flowers but she holds onto them tightly. She knew they'd probably have to leave them, come the time to go forward with their search, but for now, she would cherish them.

When he pulls back, he hears someone call out to him and he sighs. "Sadly, I have to go. But stay here – rest a little. I'll be by your side soon." He leans down and kisses her forehead, and goes to leave.

But her voice suddenly speaks out, calling to him. "Jon?"

He looks up from where he stood. "Yes?"

Daenerys rubs the back of her neck before placing the flowers gently down on the cot again. "I've…just been thinking a lot lately." She walks over to him and takes his hands in hers, messing around with his fingers, fidgeting clearly. It was strange how her mind worked. Jon had reassured her so many times now that he was going to stay with her, that he would always protect her and her children, and stand by her side, no matter what.

But that didn't stop the little voice of doubt that entered her mind late at night.

"What is it, Dany?" he asks her gently.

"When…when you first found out about our…relation." She gauges his face for a reaction but sees none, just intent on listening to her. "…you wanted nothing to do with me. I know…the man I see in front of me now is someone that is…completely different, and that doesn't change how I feel about you." She looks up at him, biting her lip. "But…I still wonder if…if what we are by blood…means anything to you. I know it's stupid to think but I…" She looks at the ground and sighs.

Jon was quiet for a moment, and she thought that maybe she had scared him away with the conversation, but after a few seconds, he places his hands gently on her shoulders, and then moves one to her chin, having her eyes connect with her own.

"Have you been having nightmares again?" he asks softly.

Daenerys bites her lip and shakes her head. "No…not nightmares. Just…thoughts about how everything has changed. If…if all of this is real. If you're even here." She looks up at him and feels herself smile a bit, her eyes getting misty. "I know what happened in King's Landing wasn't me but I…I can't help but think I don't deserve this second chance I've been given."

"Don't say that," he says to her firmly, his grip on her face tightening as if to make sure she heard. "Your life is worth more than anything in this world, and if you think that it's not, then I'm going to spend the rest of mine trying to prove it to you." Daenerys smiles at his words, looking up at him. "And if you're talking about our relation, I really could not care less."

Her brow furrowed. "Really? There's no doubt in your mind?"

"Dany, the man that you met years ago was so fucking confused by everything. I didn't know shit. I didn't know the ways of the world. I didn't know that what's happened between us is something that has happened in many, many families. I never realized it. But now, my eyes are open. Everything makes sense. I don't care what people think of us, or what others may say – nothing else matters as long as we're together. We're the last two Targaryens – and our children continue that on. That is all that matters."

Daenerys felt her lip tremble, but she turns away. The last thing she wanted was to cry again after the emotional day she had been having, but hearing him being so accepting of who he was…it was like music to her ears. "What about your Stark side?" she asks softly.

Jon's grip lessens and he sighs, although it wasn't a painful one. "I'll never forget what they did for me. What my brother, Robb, was for me. What Arya still is for me now. I'm still half-Stark and I always will be thanks to my mother…but Sansa? And Bran? They're not my family anymore." He leans down and kisses her, this one full of passion and need that it made Daenerys' toes curl and her head spin. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead against hers. "You're my family, Dany. And nothing is going to change that."

Daenerys feels a tear escape but she wipes it away quickly, smiling up at him. Before she could speak, another voice calls out, this time more aggravated. Jon sighs and steps back, but takes her hand in his.

"Rest for a bit and then come out and join us for dinner. You need it." He leans down and places a kiss on top of her hand, smiling up at her, before finally stepping out of the tent. Once he was gone, Daenerys feels herself fall flat onto the cot, covering her face in her hands.

How is it that one man made her feel so weak and yet so strong? Jon Snow was the paradox of men. And she loved it.

---

When Daenerys did finally step out of the tent a little while later, she walked over to where Jon was with Dan, their daughter resting her head against his shoulder. As soon as she sits down, her daughter smiles up at her and offers her some soup someone had made, and Dany takes it gratefully.

"It's not horrible," she points out. "It's made with…you know what, I don't want to know," Dan mumbles, causing Jon to laugh.

"You remember the things we would make up North to live," he says to her, and Dan chuckles.

"Yeah. Some of it was disgusting. I can't even believe Uncle Tormund would want seconds – and then thirds, and then fourths. It was ridiculous."

Daenerys chuckles, looking at the soup. "I'm sure he had some quite interesting food choices," she responds. "He seemed like someone who would be that way."

"Try living with him for a while – you'll get tired of it," Jon replies, which makes Daenerys snicker. At that moment, Dan looks over at Zaevar, who was staring into the fire. Maelela was resting beside him, her eyes closed, passed out from the trek they had made through the woods, but his face seemed completely zoned out, filled with worry and regret.

Jon looks over at Daenerys, who nods at him. The man quietly reaches over and touches the boy's shoulder, and he snaps his head up, broken from his trance. "Is everything alright, Zaevar?" The boy doesn't respond. Only looks at Daenerys and Jon. "If this is about your sister, we are going to find her. I promise you that."

"It…it is about that, but…it's not about what you think." He looks over at Dan, sharing a glance with her. Daenerys watches as her daughter quietly nods, telling him to go on. Daenerys turns her had back to where Zaevar sat. "I…I think something is going on with my family."

'I could have told you that,' Daenerys mutters inwardly, but doesn't speak. Jon looks at him before squeezing his shoulder. "Well, you can tell us anything."

Zaevar looks at the two of them before looking at Dan and then Maelela. "I, uh…could we talk over there? I don't want to wake Mae."

Daenerys turns to Jon and nods, standing. "Do you want Dan to come?"

"She already knows."

"Oh," Daenerys states, raising an eyebrow at her daughter, who shrugs and continues to eat her soup. Daenerys shakes her head and walks over to where Jon stood, watching as Zaevar gently lays his sister down on the ground to sleep, while he stood and walked to them.

After a moment, when they were away from the bustling crowd and the dining, he turns to them, his hands fidgeting.

"I…I've seen many things with my father and my two sisters," he starts out.

Daenerys' brow raises. "What things?"

"I…" He looks around again, as if nervous that if someone heard what he said, he would be hurt. Daenerys gently kneels down in front of him and places both of her hands on the boy's shoulders, and he looks up at her.

"You don't need to be afraid to speak of this to us," she reassures him. "Please. If we don't know what it is, we can't help you."

Zaevar looks to her and then to Jon, who nods in agreement. The young boy sighs and looks at the ground, before nodding in determination.

"Alright…I've noticed things." He rubs the back of his neck and looks up at them. "I…I know you and your children are close. Dan has probably told you already what I told her about my family?" Daenerys gently nods. "Assumed so…she's smart that way. But there's…something else that happens that no one sees and I…I need someone to do something about it."

He looks over at where Maelela was resting before his eyes travel back to Daenerys'.

"My older sister…doesn't have any powers. She's a true Valyrian, that much I know, but because she can't do what my sister and I can do…my family never treated her the right way. I know that you know this because you took her. And I'm happy you did…she's probably a million times better off," he mutters, before continuing. "But when she was there…something used to happen a lot that I…think is wrong. No. I know is wrong."

"What is it, Zaevar?" Jon asks, his voice growing firm.

"My…my father beats us. That much you know. My mother doesn't do much – she's always so focused on whatever she has planned that she…she doesn't care as much as she should. But he's only ever really hurt me…physically. With my older sister…he…" He swallows and looks at the ground, closing his eyes. Daenerys watches as his hands turn into fists, as if he was trying to will it out of himself to say it. But then, quietly, he forces his head up and looks Daenerys in the eyes. "He forces himself on her."

Her brow raises in complete surprise. She could feel Jon still next to her. "He does what?" She swallows and rests her hands on Zaevar's shoulders once more. "Zaevar, you need to be completely honest with us. When you say forcing do you mean-"

"He has had sex with my sister," he states bluntly, and she sees tears appear in his eyes. "I've seen the blood after he first forced himself on her, to punish her for talking back. I've seen the scars and the bruises. I…I once saw him doing it but I couldn't' say anything and I…feel awful about it and…and I want to change something but I…I don't know how."

At that moment, the tears within Zaevar's eyes begin to leak out and Daenerys rests her arms around him, pulling the boy in for a hug. She felt horrible for him. What boy should have to witness this type of parentage at his age?

And gods, what about Maelela? Is that why she was so concerned about her moon's blood? Because of what her father did to her? The girl had never told Daenerys of what Aenar had done, and if anything, that only made her want to find that bastard more. He raped his fucking daughter.

"I'm so scared for Nesara," Zaevar cries into her neck. "I'm so scared he's going to hurt her next and I can't do anything. He's already hurt her physically. What if-"

"Zaevar." Daenerys pulls back and looks at the young boy directly in the face, letting her hands rest gently on his cheeks. "I promise you. Jon and I will never let your father harm you, or your sisters, ever again. They will never be touched, hit, or anything else. You will be safe – no matter what."

Zaevar nods softly, looking at her and wiping the tears away. "He…he started doing it when Maelela was younger…I'm just scared he's going to do the same thing to Nesy."

Daenerys raises an eyebrow to him. "Nesy?"

Zaevar smiles a bit, looking at the ground. "It's my nickname I use for her…I can't let it happen again. I can't."

"And it won't." She hugs the boy one more time, trying to transfer all of what she said into him, that her sister would be safe, that he would be safe, and somehow, they would get out of this. She would promise that to him. And when she pulls back, she sees his tears had dried, and he was breathing normally. "Thank you for telling us."

Zaevar looks to her and then to her side before his brow furrowed. "Where did Jon go?"

Daenerys' brow furrows as she stands and looks to where Jon had been a moment before, but Zaevar was right. He was gone. "I…don't know," she answers quietly, moving the boy back to where Dan was. He sits next to his sister, holding her hand, and Daenerys felt herself smile a little sadly.

That was how she had Viserys had been when she was a young girl…she hoped that Zaevar and Maelela stayed as close as they were now.

"Dan," she starts, turning to her daughter. "Do you know where your father went?"

"Um…I think down the pathway?" Her hand moved south of where they were, showing a dirt road covered in trees. "He seemed…off. I tried to call out to him but he didn't answer."

That was not like him.

"Alright," Daenerys mutters before turning to her daughter again. "You three, stay here and eat. I'm going to go look for him." Before she leaves, she leans down in Dan's ear. "You've been a great friend to Zaevar. I'm proud of you. Keep it up."

Dan smiles gratefully at her, and Daenerys squeezes her shoulder before standing. She walks over to her tent and quickly grabs Dark Sister, knowing she had no idea what kind of animals were in these woods, before heading down the pathway Dan had gestured to.

Why would he just run off when Zaevar was telling them something that important? He was so daft sometimes.

But something else was up. It had to be. He usually wouldn't just go off without her.

'He did when he found out the truth,' her mind reminds her. Daenerys sighs and nods as she walks. Yes, she knew that. But he had promised her he wouldn't go off to some other continent ever again without telling her. Him just walking off like this…

She had a feeling she was going to find a mess when she did discover where he went.

---

Just as she had imagined, there were hundreds of broken-down pieces of wood when Daenerys finally started to hear Jon. It seemed that he had cut down branches and trunks with Longclaw, leaving the remains on the ground. And as she followed the path of destruction, she finally found him among a clearing of trees, a little bit further away from the group.

He was stabbing Longclaw into an old tree trunk, over, and over, and over again, until it was basically nothing more than a stick on the ground. Daenerys watches quietly before she starts to approach him. He was so in tune with what he was doing he didn't even hear her.

"Why is it that whenever something angers you, you run off like a child?" Daenerys asks him, her arms crossing across her chest. He doesn't respond - just continues to hit the tree trunk. She walks over to him. "Jon?" Nothing. "Jon!"

She still does not get a response. Fed up, she walks over and places her hand gently on his shoulder, but he quickly shrugs her off and stalks away. Daenerys glares at him and follows.

"What in the name of the seven hells below us is your problem?!"

"My problem is this fucking world!" he suddenly snaps at her, finally turning his face to her. Daenerys instantly sees why Dan thought he was off. His eyes were full of rage and anger, a fit of outrage that she had never seen on his Northern features. "How the fuck could someone be so goddamn vile as to rape their child when they talked back? What kind of fucking father does that?!"

He suddenly throws Longclaw to the ground in a moment of fury, the sword landing with a thud. Daenerys gently walks over to him. "Jon-"

"And Mae." He shakes his head and steps back. "Fuck, Mae. It was no wonder she was so bloody afraid of speaking about her family. That fucking bastard raped her." He stares at the ground, the same expression on his face. "He raped her. And broke her." Suddenly, he brings his fist up and hits the tree closest to him as hard as he could. The force was so intense that he caused the trunk to crack. Daenerys had never seen this kind of anger come from him before. "That's why Nesara was so scared when she saw me. That motherfucker hurt her. Who the fuck knows what he's done to her."

He brings his fist up again and punches the wood, over and over. Daenerys, after stepping out of her state of shock, runs over to him and pulls at his arm, stopping his tirade of abuse. "Jon, stop!" she exclaims, holding his arm firm. As she pulls him back, she realizes his shoulders begin to shake.

Quietly, she looks at his hand, now cut and bloodied, before stepping in front of him. It was there that she saw tears coming out of his eyes. They still had the same fit of anger within them, but there was another emotion. Sadness.

"Jon," she whispers, bringing a hand gently up to his face.

"I should have killed him," he growls. "I should have cut his fucking head off his neck the moment we came here. I should have-"

"And he will pay." She brings her other hand up to cup his face, looking at him with determination. "Both of them. We will bring down hellfire onto their lives and make sure that they rue the day they ever crossed us or the people we love. I can promise you that."

"We can't change what's happened to Mae," he whispers, and suddenly, the rage from his eyes is gone. "The poor girl…what she's gone through…"

"I know," she reassures him. "I know…the best we can do is try and protect them after this…give them a life that they deserve. Help them recover." She swallows and looks at the ground. "I pray that he didn't get to Nesara yet."

She suddenly sees Jon's hands tighten into fists again, and she moves her eyes back to his own. The rage had returned. "Fire is too clean of a death for him," Jon hisses, staring down at her. "He doesn't deserve dragonfire. He has to suffer."

Daenerys feels her brow raise slightly at his words. She never thought in her life she would ever see Jon say those words, but now, hearing them come from his mouth, she knew he was fully capable of committing to what they were going to do. She knew he wasn't stuck between two worlds now. He was a dragon.

"And he will," she answers, letting her hands rest against his cheeks again. "We will make sure of it, Jon. You will decide how he goes. What happens to him. The ways in which he will suffer…everything. We will make sure he will pay for what he did."

Jon stares down at her before his eyes look to the ground. Daenerys tilts her head up, looking at him.

"Jon, what is it?"

"I don't know how I ever did any of this without you," he suddenly admits, looking at her. "I…I was so lost. For so many years. After what I did…all I wanted to do was kill myself. To end my suffering. And then finding Dan, Daemon, you…I finally feel…"

"Fulfilled?" she asks him softly.

He shakes his head. "No…because there's more we have to do," he answers, his hand coming up to touch her own. "But with you? I…I feel like I've found my other half. I can't do what we're about to do without you, Dany."

Daenerys feels herself smile and leans up, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. When she pulls back, he rests his forehead against hers. "You won't ever have to do it alone," she whispers to him. "I will always be here for you. No matter what."

Jon nods softly, looking down at her. She steps back and takes his injured and in her own, before reaching down and grabbing Longclaw. She quietly hands it back to him, and he gingerly takes it.

"I'm sorry for stalking off," he says to her quietly as they walk back to where they were. "I…I felt so much anger. I didn't want the children or the others to see it. If I stayed there I would have killed something."

"I understand," she responds gently. "But again – please don't just run off next time. Tell me. I understand the need to get the anger out." She turns to him. "I think when we get back I'll patch up your hand and then you sleep for a bit. I think you need it more than I do."

And quietly, Jon nods his head, following after her towards the campsite.

---

Jon

It was bright when his eyes opened.

He didn't know where he was, but he knew it was a large chamber. There was a balcony that lead outside, with arches of gold and layered red and black all along the edges of the walls.

He looks around and notices the bed was quite large, with a fur so warm he thought it might be made by the gods. And as he leans up, his eyes searching the room, he realizes that the balcony that he had seen in front of him lead out to a city he hadn't seen in a long time.

King's Landing.

His brow furrows as he stands, looking down at himself. He was as naked as his name day, something he usually was only when it came to…Daenerys.

Daenerys, where was she?

He springs up from his bed, looking around. Quietly, he could see clothes on the ground, and after examining them, he could tell it was smallclothes that must have been ripped off the night before. Jon blushes and looks for another shirt and trousers he could put, before grabbing some shoes as well. Quietly, he steps out of the chamber and looks around, but as soon as he does, he feels a force attack his legs.

"Papa!"

Jon snaps his head down to see a little girl with his hair and Daenerys' eyes staring up at him, a huge smile on her cheeks. She seemed to be around six or five and had a little nightgown on. Instantly, he felt a warmness spread through his heart, and he smiles.

"Hello, little one," he murmurs before picking her up into his arms. She giggles as he lifts her up into his arms, letting her rest on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he hears come from behind him, and Jon turns his head. In his mind, he almost felt his jaw drop.

It was Dan, except she was older. Much older. She seemed to be around sixteen and had a play sword hanging at her side. She had grown so much. After a moment, Daemon appeared behind her suddenly, his hair a mess and the same play sword that Dan had. He was older as well. He reminded Jon of himself when he was sixteen.

"We couldn't keep her entertained long enough," Dan states. "Mother said to let you sleep after your fight yesterday, but little Lyanna couldn't stop wanting to see her father."

'Lyanna,' he thinks, smiling a bit. Daemon's brow furrows as he walks forward, before waving a hand in front of him.

"You alright there, father? Still thinking about the fight?"

Jon blinks and comes back to the present, before looking over at his son. "I'm sorry. Yeah…my mind is leaving me. What fight?"

"Your body doesn't remember?" Dan states as they start to walk towards where he would assume a throne room. "It was harrowing. You were training with one of the knights because they wanted to improve your form and they accidentally cut you. You were okay after it but had to lay down. You really don't remember?"

"I must have slept for a long time," he states, smiling a bit. "Glad this little one woke me up." He tickles the little girl's side, and she laughs.

Dan opens up the door and Jon stares in shock at the number of people who were there. Workers, mounters, hunters, everyone speaking to each other. As he comes forward, he sees two other children who were playing, and they look up and smile at him, waving before going back to their game. They looked like him too...

As he walked further, Dan takes Lyanna from his shoulders. The little girl protests but Dan gives her a stern look. "If we don't go now, you're not going to see the dragons with Zaevar and the others. And I know how much you like him."

That made the little girl quiet down, and Jon chuckles as he watches Dan and Dameon leave with her. Zaevar was here? Did that mean all the Valyrian's were here? Were…were they ruling?

"Ah, my king."

Jon turns his head and feels a smile spread across his cheek. There stood Daenerys, in a beautiful red and black dress with gold outlining, and a silver crown atop her head, her hair braided intricately behind her, framing her stunning face. She walks to him and her brow furrows, lifting up a bit of his shirt to examine a wound on his side.

"Why are you awake? I told the children to keep Lyanna busy," she mutters.

"I think Lyanna had a little bit too much energy," Jon states back, but the smile hadn't left his lips. Daenerys looks up with a raised brow.

"You seem quite happy today. What is on your mind?"

"Nothing." He wraps his arms around her and leans in close, pressing a kiss against her lips. He feels her smile and return the kiss, fingers locking behind his neck. When he pulls back, she was smiling.

"Jon, there are people here."

"And? I'm a king, and if I want to kiss my queen, I will," he replies, and then settles that with another kiss to her lips, causing her to laugh.

His eyes snap open and Jon looks around the tent he had sat in, before bringing a hand to his head. Daenerys had brought him back to the tent to rest for the time being after his outburst, but he hadn't expected to dream.

Was…was that their future?

With children? In King's Landing? With…with her? As his wife, truly?

Dan and Daemon were so much older and healthy, and the children in the room…the little girl…Lyanna, they had named her. And the Valyrian's had been there – or at least Zaevar had. And the castle…it was so much brighter than he imagined, so much more filled with life than the last time he had seen it, right after the Burning of King's Landing.

But if they did that…they would need to go back. To become the rulers that Daenerys had tried to be years ago. And had failed. They had failed.

But as he leans up in his cot, looking down at the ground, he felt a small smile spread across his cheeks.

He wanted that future. Their future.

"Jon?" The soft voice comes from the flap of the tent and Jon looks up in time to see Daenerys come through. She had redone her hair and had changed her clothes for the journey ahead but had tried to stay quiet for him. When she sees the smile on his face, she raises an eyebrow. "What is it? Why are you so happy?"

Her words remind him of the dream, and it only makes him smile a little harder. "Just a nice dream I had." He reaches out and grabs her hand, pulling her down so that she sat atop his lap. She looked surprised at him openly doing that but doesn't question it. He wraps his arms around her waist and leans in, kissing her softly.

She responds to it, her arms wrapping around his neck, as his hands traveled up her waist and to her cheeks. When he pulls away, he cups her face, his forehead resting against her own.

"This must have been some dream," Daenerys states softly, looking at him with a raised brow.

"It was a dream I wish was true," he says back. "Maybe one day it can be."

Daenerys looks at him quietly before reaching up and taking his hand in hers. "Is it something you can tell me about?"

"I can but…I don't want to not focus on why we're out here. If I tell you we're going to be here talking about the future for hours." She raises an eyebrow at his words. "Alright, maybe not hours, but close to it. We have to go."

Daenerys sighs softly but nods. "Alright, but you know I'm always here."

"I know," he whispers before looking up at her. Quietly, he kisses her again. Gods, each kiss felt like it was something brand new. She made him feel like he could do anything, and he could only pray that he did the same for her.

When he pulls back she helps him stand, before grabbing his sword for him. It was funny to see her try to handle Longclaw considering it was much larger than her own sword that she used, but he had to admit that she had built up plenty of muscle in the times they had been training. She could very well hold her own weight in combat now.

As she grabs Dark Sister, she turns to him and grabs his hand with her free one. "We will be home soon. And then maybe we can make that dream of yours come true."

Jon smiles softly and nods, watching as she heads back out after that. And then, with a quiet sigh, he follows after her, looking ahead.

---

When they had finally gotten themselves back onto the road to search for the children, Jon had noticed that as they walked further it got much hotter in the air. He could see that even Daenerys had removed a piece of her garments and was now only wearing one of her training shirts. Her face was sweating and she had tied her hair up.

If the Mother of Dragons was sweating, you knew that it was hotter than anything else in the bloody world.

"Why is the climate here so strange?" she asks him as they walked further. "I swear, it's beautiful where we live down there but the further we go here…I feel like I'm in a volcano."

Jon nodded, agreeing. He had tied up his hair for the first time in he didn't even know how long now. It was making him start to sweat as well.

He turns a corner and suddenly stops, his eyes looking at the tracks in the ground. It seemed that wherever the children had been taken, it was raining at the time because he could see clear imprints of little feet in the mud beneath them. Jon grabs Daenerys' arm and she follows his gaze, before looking back at him.

"Where do they lead?" She looks ahead and squints. Jon does the same and sees a large cave in the distance, one that was dark and probably full of strange inhabitants that he didn't even want to think about. But the footprints lead into there. And he realized, with a start, that the closer he got to the cave, the hotter it was.

Was this where the heat was coming from?

He looks over at Daenerys and then at the mob of people behind him, all waiting for the next order. After a second, he shakes his head, sighing

"We can't let them come with us."

Her brow furrows. "Why is that? They swore to help us get back their children."

"Anyone can swear anything," Jon replies, but his eyes travel back to the cave. "Even then, this cave is too small. The children were able to fit in here in the masses, but we can't have grown adults coming in all at once. For all we know, it could collapse under the pressure." He bites his lip and grabs his sword. "I'm going to go in."

"Oh no." Daenerys instantly grabs his arm and stops him, her eyes turning into fiery slits. "You are not abandoning me again."

"Dany-"

"Don't 'Dany' me," she snaps. "We agreed that we do this together. That means going into some strange cave together to get back our child. I'm not leaving you, Jon."

He sighs and looks over at the people. "It's not like I don't want you to come, Dany, but if we're going to go in there alone, we need someone to bring the people back to Valyria."

"Why do they have to go back?" she questions him. "If they stay here, we will have back up if something bad happens to us. We will have the help we need. They already swore to serve by our side. We might as well use it to our advantage."

Jon sighs and looks at the ground before glancing back at her. "What if there are people who are loyal to the king waiting for them? They could be attacked."

"Jon, you're dealing with trained fighters here – not children. We're the ones trying to find the children." She places her hands on his face, seeing the struggle in his eyes. "Listen to me. I understand that you want to do the right thing. I do too. But we need to make sure they stay here so that if we run into trouble, we have people who can help us."

Jon looks down at her and sighs once more. "I suppose that's right…I'm just nervous about what might happen. I always am, though." He looks over at the men and nods. "Alright, come on then." He grabs her hand and pulls her forward, and she follows towards him as he goes to speak with them.

As soon as he comes forward, all eyes are on him. Jon clears his throat as he looks at them.

He could feel Dany's eyes on him, trying to ease him into the role he had forgotten about for so long. "We've found tracks that seem to be like children's footprints, but the cave in which they lead is far too small for all of us to descend."

"We could go in waves," one man suggests.

"We don't know the structure of the cave," Daenerys answers to him. "If too many of us go into somewhere that might be fragile, it could collapse underneath us."

"Therefore," Jon starts, looking to Daenerys. She nods gently, encouraging him. "We've decided it would be best if Daenerys and I go in and investigate. See if we can find anything. And if we do, we will come out and let you know. From there, we can figure out the right decision as to how we find these people."

Taevar steps forward, looking at Jon. "Don't you want some help if something goes wrong?"

"That's why we're asking that you stay here," Daenerys replies. "If something does happen, I trust that Jon and I can leave the cave quick enough to come and alert you. But because we don't know how strong the flooring is, we have to be careful and have it just be the two of us."

Taevar nods and bows his head. "Whatever you say. We will wait here. Just bring back our children, please."

"We swear we will," Jon responds, clasping the man's shoulder. At that moment, Dan's figure appears from the side, and she looks up at them, seemingly agitated.

"I'm going too, right?"

Daenerys and Jon share a glance before Jon reaches down for his daughter's hands. "It's better if you stay here."

"But I'm small. I won't make the cave collapse."

"Dan, we can't risk losing another child here," Daenerys says to her softly. "Especially ours when you can be safe out here, protecting Zaevar and Mae."

Dan looks between the two of them before her brow furrows. "Daemon is my brother. I want to protect him. I thought we all agreed we were in this together?"

The hurt that escaped her voice made Jon sigh, and he looks up at Daenerys. He hated saying no to Dan. He wanted to give her the world but he knew that this wasn't the time for her to come along. Daenerys kneels down to her height and grabs the girl's hand.

"We are in this together," Daenerys reassures her. "You are a great asset, Dan. A skilled fighter. A loveable daughter." A small smile comes across the girl's cheeks, but she doesn't say anything else. "But we all need to be in the right place at the right time. Right now, it's you staying here, safe and sound, with your friends and our people. We are going to be okay. You don't need to worry about us. We only want you to stay here and do your part in protecting the others."

Dan bites her lower lip before sighing. "So…be like a knight?"

Daenerys smiles widely. "Yes, like a knight. Exactly that."

Dan nods quietly before reaching forward hugging them both. They collectively wrap their arms around her, and when she pulls back, she nods towards the cave. "Please come back safely."

"We promise you we will," Daenerys whispers to her, before leaning down and giving her daughter a soft peck on the forehead. When Daenerys pulls back, he does the same, and once she was settled, the two stand and watch as she runs back to where the others were. Jon looks to Daenerys and quietly nods. "Are you ready?" she asks him gently.

He nods, holding the length of his sword. "Ready as I'll ever be."

And together, they walk towards the cave, the heat barreling down on them.

---

It was much darker than Jon expected it to be.

He knew that many caves weren't meant to be light. Bats lived in them for a reason, but to be honest, he wished a part of him had brought Dan because her fire hands at least would have come in handy.

But he had been correct about not bringing the men. Even from walking here, he could tell that the floor was very unstable. One false move and it could all collapse under them. If they had brought many men here, he didn't know what would have happened.

Now, he was just trying to guide Daenerys down the path, making sure that he didn't step on any creature himself in the darkness.

"Watch here," he warns her, helping her down on a steep incline. She descends slowly, looking around.

As they walked, she turns to him. "I didn't think this place could get scarier but the floor has seriously given me doubts."

"It's good we didn't bring anyone else in here," Jon replies. "I don't know what might have happened if all of Valyria was there."

"It isn't though," she states softly. A small glow starts to show from a distance, showing a sliver of Daenerys' face in the dark. "There are a lot of people behind us but…I think some of the nobles weren't there. And did you notice that there were zero red priests or priestesses?"

"No Kinvara either," Jon mutters, realizing what she was saying.

Daenerys nods, looking up at him. "Do you think that…they might be wherever the children are?"

"Where else could they be?" he asks quietly as they walked.

The two start to move deeper into the cave, and quietly, he hears Daenerys sigh. "Under different circumstances, this place might have been romantic." Jon raises an eyebrow at her and Daenerys starts to chuckle. "I mean it's dark, gloomy…if a man wanted to get close to a girl, he could do that very well right here."

Jon snorts and shakes his head. "I'm not the hugest cave person, honestly," he admits to her, his mind thinking back to Ygritte. But Daenerys raises an eyebrow at him and gestures for him to keep talking.

"How come?"

Jon rubs the back of his neck as they continue to walk. "The first time I had sex was in a cave."

Daenerys snorts loudly, bringing a hand to cover her mouth, and Jon looks over at her, shocked at her expression. "A cave? Where's your nobleman nature, Jon?"

"It was her idea!" he persuades her as she laughs. "I didn't think we were going to do it but she was – persistent, I suppose is the best word. It just happened. It was in a hot spring."

Daenerys shakes her head, chuckling. "At least there was a hot spring there. That's nice." She looks back at him and smiles a bit. "Was this Ygritte?"

He couldn't believe that she still remembered the girl's name, but Jon nods and turns to her. "Yeah, it was."

Daenerys nods quietly before reaching over and grabbing his hand. "She would be proud of you, you know. I think so."

Jon feels himself chuckle and shake his head. "She'd probably try and shoot me in the heart for being with another woman," he replies, causing Daenerys to chuckle. "But I'd like to think she would be too."

As they walked further, the glowing sensation from before started to glow brighter, and Daenerys walked forward in curiosity. "What is that?" she whispers, stepping closer and closer to the source.

Jon watched carefully as she did, looking around the area as best as he could. He walked a few paces further as the light grew and knew instantly what was making that brightness, but Daenerys was so infested in it she didn't see.

"WATCH!" he suddenly yells, grabbing at her waist. He yanks her back just as her feet almost tipped over the edge of a cliff. Tiny pebbles of stone fall down into the abyss of where she just stood, and Daenerys' eyes follow his own path as he points to down below.

Right at the bottom of the cliff she had nearly fallen over into was a pit of lava, hot and seething, boiling to the touch, and destructible. Daenerys stares in shock as Jon steadies her, but she doesn't let go of his hand.

"T…thank you," she whispers, moving her gaze back to him. "I…I didn't even see it."

"That's what I'm here for," he states quietly, his eyes moving back to the lava on the ground below them. It seemed bubbly, like it was trying to cause a reaction or something. His brow furrows. "I thought all of the volcanos erupted in the Doom and that none of them were active?"

"So did I," Daenerys whispers in shock, staring at the pit. "What…what would they be doing in a volcano? That…that means we're…in a volcano." She looks up at him. "That's why it was getting so hot the quicker we approached this area - because there was a fucking volcano right below us!"

"Seven hells," Jon whispers, stepping back.

"Why would they take the children and red priests to a volcano?" she asks him. "If anything I thought they would try and avoid something like that."

"I don't know," he answers. "For now, let's keep going – here, follow me." He gently guides her through an entranceway away from the pit, as the glowing finally started to die down behind them. Daenerys glances once more time towards it before shaking her head and moving it forward to face Jon. "Never seen a volcano," he admits quietly.

"Neither have I," she mutters, her brow furrowed as they trekked through the dark again cave. "I don't get what they would want being down here. Are they trying to hide something?"

"The king and queen are always hiding something," Jon mutters. A small sliver of light appears and he gently guides himself through, before helping Daenerys step through as well. As soon as she is safely on the other side, Jon looks over towards the light and feels himself still. Daenerys walks forward, looking at the ground, and then once her eyes fall to where he was, she gasps, her hands flying to her mouth.

All around them were what looked like eggs, littering the ground. But Daenerys knew exactly what they were – and Jon did, too. They were dragon eggs. All of them in different colors and bundles to the sides of the walls and some right there in front of them.

"Are these all…dragon eggs?" Jon whispers as Daenerys steps forward, looking at each of them.

"Saeresa did say there were some deep in the forest but…I didn't think here."

"This isn't the forest, Dany," he states quietly, looking over at her. "This is the inside of a volcano…what if she took all the eggs and hid them in here?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," Daenerys answers while picking up an egg into her hands. She walks over to Jon, smiling lightly. "You've never felt a dragon egg, have you?" she asks softly.

Jon shakes his head. Gently, she takes his hand and quietly places the dragon egg she had been holding into his hands. He stares at the egg in shock. It was hot to the touch, but it felt like it was beating, as if there was a little heart inside. He feels a small smile come across his lips.

"It feels alive," he whispers, looking down at her. Daenerys smiles and places a hand gently on top of his own that was resting on the dragon egg.

"That was how I felt with my children," she says softly. "Like they were alive."

At that moment, there was a sudden shout of pain from somewhere and the two jump. Jon gently places the egg down and races forward with Daenerys, making sure not to step on any of the eggs as they did. They come towards an entrance around the corner that leads into another area that shows a pit of lava beneath them, but that's not what makes them still.

It's the voice.

"Either you work with us or you burn! Your choice!"

That was Aenar.

"I…refuse…"

And that was Daemon.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of a whip, followed by a scream of pain. Jon instantly springs forward, his rage taking over, but Daenerys grabs his hand, shaking her head. He could see the anger in her eyes too, but she was trying to wait until no one was there. Jon stares at her and lets out deep breathes, before closing his eyes, listening in to the king.

"Guards, watch the captives and the priests. We'll be back in a few minutes."

He hears the footsteps of him and another person walking away – Jon assumed it was Saeresa he was with – before they disappeared around the corner.

Jon looks at Daenerys, waiting for her go. After a moment, she nods and grabs her own sword, which signaled him to do the same. He counts down, mouthing the numbers until he reached the end. Once he hits three, they step out, Jon instantly slamming his sword through the first guard there.

It seemed to take a moment for the other guards to realize that they were being attacked, but as soon as they did, it was too late. Jon had already pulled out Longclaw and dodged one hit, plunging it into another guard, while Daenerys followed his lead and did the same, having the skill of speed due to her being so much smaller than the guards around them.

Blood spewed out beneath them as one by one, they dodged and jumped away from hits. Jon avoided one slam of a sword with a side-step and then used the same move against the guard while keeping an eye on Daenerys. He watched as she took on the last guard, jumping back with each hit before bringing up her leg and hitting him hard in the chest. With the backward movement, she takes Dark Sister, plunges it deep into the guard's body, and steps back as she watches him fall to the ground.

Jon walks over to Daenerys, surveying the damage, seeing the blood that now seeped into the pool of lava beneath them. "You alright?" he asks her. She nods, her eyes moving to another slit in the cracks of the stone wall cave. She nods to Jon, as the two of them walk towards it, where bodies of guards lay that had been protecting the entrance.

The two walk through, and instantly, Daenerys rushes forward, dropping her sword on the ground. When Jon sees what she sees, he nearly does the same.

All around them were cages, filled with the children that had been taken from the families that had been helping them all this time, along with the red priests that Jon and Daenerys hadn't seen. They were locked up, with chains around them, keeping them from running, and looked like most of them had been beaten.

"...what the fuck?" he whispers, walking forward. His eyes travel to where Daenerys had gone, and he feels himself drop his sword as well.

There, kneeling on the ground, was Daemon. He had Nesara in his arms. The little girl had cuts and bruises all along her face, as well as blood that seeped through her clothes, but when Jon had one look at Daemon, he felt his heart stop.

Along the boy's back were long blood marks that he could see through his shirt. Jon knew instantly that he had been whipped. That was the sound he had heard.

"Daemon," he hears Daenerys whisper. "We're going to get you out of here, all of you. You just need to stay calm."

Daemon doesn't speak, but Jon could see the tears trailing from his eyes. He was trying to be tough. Jon looks around to the children, who were all huddled in fear, and his eyes land on the red priests in the corner, all chained up as well.

"What is going on here?" he asks, walking to them. Out of everyone, he knew that they had to have at least some information. As he came closer to them, he realized with a start that most of them were unconscious, and one familiar body lay among them.

Kinvara.

"Is she alright?" he asks quickly, looking at the people around them.

"No," one of the priests finally says after a moment. "She refused to help Aenar and Saeresa in their plans, so they…they hurt her, badly."

Jon couldn't see the blood through her dress, but looking on the ground - the stains were hard to miss. He curses and looks over to the children, all of which had cuts, and then back to the red priests. "What is happening?" he asks again. "Why did they take the children? Why did they take you?"

"Because we're the only ones that can help with the queen's plan," one of the red priests say.

"What plan?"

"They want to destroy Valyria," one of the other children say. Jon looks over to them, nodding for them to continue. "This volcano had been active for years, but it's never erupted. It was hidden and underground, so it was never discovered with the Old Valyrians, but Queen Saeresa discovered it years ago…she said that from there, she started gathering lords and ladies who were loyal to her plan for a New Valyria with the same ideals…and when she had enough, she would destroy this one."

"The fire mages," Daenerys whispers suddenly, standing. "The red priests. That's why they took them." Her eyes turn to Jon. "They want to activate this volcano."

"Why would they take the healers then?" he responds.

"To heal the injured loyalists," another red priest states. "If the lava got to them, the healers would be right there. But Daemon and Nesara…they both refused. And…you can see what happened to them."

Jon swallows as he looks over at the two children, both beaten and bloody, he then turns to where the other children were. "Have you been helping them?"

"We didn't have a choice," one responds. "If we didn't activate the volcano…they would have pushed us in. They already did so with another child."

"Who's?"

"I don't know…it was dark," the child responds quietly, looking away. "Please…they were going to kill us. They already hurt the others. We didn't want to get killed either. Please."

Jon raises his hands defensively to them. "We aren't going to hurt you. We're going to get you out." He looks over at the red priests. "Why was Kinvara hurt? What did she do?"

"Well I told you – she refused their plan," the man in front of him states. "She didn't want to participate in helping the volcano explode and destroying the world that they have built for years. But because Kinvara was one of the original red priestesses to save the Valyrian's, they couldn't kill her with fire. So they beat her close to death. I don't know how long she's been unconscious."

"Do you know when the volcano might start to erupt?"

At that moment, the ground beneath them shakes and the children around them begin to scream and shout in fear. Jon looks over at Daenerys, who was clinging to the cage their child was in before the shaking seized. Jon looks at the red priests, who were staring at the lava in fear. "I think it will be soon, my lord."

"Fuck," Jon mutters before turning to Daenerys. "Dany, loot the bodies! Find the keys to the cages!"

She nods and gets to work, looking at each of the bodies they had just killed around them. Jon does the same, going from guard to guard, but finds nothing but blood and damaged armor on the ground. After a minute or so, he hears a yelp of excitement and he turns to see Daenerys standing victoriously with the keys before she rushes over to open the cages.

One by one, the children all file out, clinging to each other. Jon could see that some had ash, some had bruises, some wore blood, and others were not harmed at all. It seemed even with the bloody fire mages, the queen and king had favorites.

Daenerys moves onto the healers next, opening up the cages for the smaller amount, who all run out to their brothers and sisters on the opposite end of the cave. She moves to the red priests next, and as soon as the door is unlocked, Jon barks out orders. "Get the children out of here safely! The floor is unstable but you need to be quick!" He thinks back to the eggs that were in the other shaft and adds that on as well. "If you have free hands, grab any of the dragon eggs that you see when you pass. We can't let Aenar and Saeresa keep them all here."

The red priests nod as one by one, they start to guide the children through the shafts. Jon picks up Kinvara's unconscious form, and at that moment, she begins to stir. Her eyes open slightly, and through her slurred voice, she smiles a bit. "…Jon?"

"We're going to help you, Kinvara. You don't need to worry," he says to her firmly, before lowering her into the arms of the last red priest their. He turns to him, grabbing his chest. "Why has she been locked up this whole time?"

"My lord, she has not been with us."

Jon's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

"Kinvara was taken into the Temple on the first day you arrived. That I can confirm, but after a day, the king and queen visited and took her away for 'official business.' We were going to induct her as a savior for bringing you here finally, but they took her back to the castle before we could even say words about it to her. As far as I've known, she's been in the castle this whole time."

"Why would they take her away?" Daenerys asks from where she stood, her fingers fumbling with the key to let out her child and Nesara.

"That's something to ask the king and the queen."

Jon sighs and nods, letting the man go and take Kinvara out of the shaft. The floor shakes again, although this time not as rough as before. He runs over to where Daenerys was, undoing the lock, and then pulls out Daemon and Nesara. The little girl was unconscious. Jon felt his anger boil deep within.

She was beaten bloody.

"What the fuck is wrong with these people?!" he hisses, grabbing his sword from the ground. He walks back over to Daenerys and stills when he sees tears appear in her eyes, falling down her cheeks. He comes over and rests a hand on her back, and she looks up at him. "They're going to be okay," he reassures her.

Daenerys bites her lip and looks down at Daemon, tilting his head up. He was hurt badly, but at least he was still conscious. "Can you stand, son?" she asks him.

Quietly, Daemon nods. "I…I can try."

Daenerys takes Nesara from his arms, cradling her in her own, making sure she was covered enough where falling debris wouldn't hurt her, and Jon helps Daemon stand. He sees the pain appear in his eyes as soon as he does, and tears fall down his cheeks.

"It hurts so much," he whispers.

"I know, I know," Jon reassures him, helping him up. "But we have to get out of here. You need to stand. I know you can do it." He rests his hands on his son's bloody cheeks, looking at him firmly. "Remember: you're a dragon. We don't break easily."

Daemon looks at him and swallows, before nodding. He slowly stands, cringing as he does, but walks to Daenerys, holding onto her arm. Jon grabs Daenerys' sword and places it in her holster, before trying to guide her out to the gash with the child in her arms and one clinging to her leg. Before they could step through, however, a voice rings out.

"Well. If it isn't our 'chosen-ones.'"

Jon snaps his head up as Daenerys does the same, watching as Aenar and Saeresa emerge from behind another entrance into the cave shaft. The volcano rumbles beneath them, menacingly.

"Dany, leave," Jon states as he steps down.

"What?!" she whispers to him in shock. "I'm not leaving without you!"

"Dany, the children need to be out of here when this erupts and so do you."

"No!"

"Daenerys!" he exclaims as Saeresa and Aenar come closer. "Please." He could see the broken look in her eyes, the torn feeling. She does not move. "For the children. For you. You have to live. It will be okay."

Daenerys stares at him before looking at Aenar and Saeresa. Begrudgingly, she swallows and turns to him, a pleading look directed at him. "Please…come back to us," she whispers to him, and then within moments, she had disappeared behind the shaft with the children. Jon lets out a deep sigh and feels his shoulders fall.

If this was how he died, he would be content.

"I see you made quick work of our guards," the voice speaks to him again, and Jon's eyes turn to slits as he glares at the two of them. "You and your wife seem to be quite the combat couple."

"You have absolutely no right to speak!" Jon snaps at them. "After what you did to these children, to my children…what you did to Kinvara…it's sick."

"Sick?" Aenar asks, chuckling. "They would have survived in here. The children have performed enough magic where the lava wouldn't have touched them in their cages – only the people and the land outside. Now, you have surely sent them to their doom."

'Fuck,' Jon mutters inwardly. There had to be some other way, and he hoped Daenerys figured it out because they did not have that much time left. "It's better than them being slaves to whatever bloody, twisted world you two are trying to build. Who beats a child for saying no? Who nearly kills their youngest daughter?!"

"Our daughter has been tainted by your son!" Aenar snaps at him. "Before he came here, she would have said yes to anything, healed anyone, and instead she said no. The years that we have performed, trying to get her to follow as we said, wasted! Because of your fucking son!"

Jon felt himself smile. "Good," he growls. "Then that means more people won't bend to your will. What were you even planning on this? Destroying your own home?"

"We planned a new Valyria," Saeresa states to him, walking forward to him. She comes close, and Jon swore all he wanted to do was slam his sword into her stomach and kill her, but he knew that's not what they needed. She had to suffer. Both of them did.

But suddenly, he feels something clang onto his hands from behind and take his sword, before Aenar knocks him onto the ground. Jon stares at his hands, now in chains. Saeresa smiles at him evilly, before Aenar chuckles, taking Longclaw and chucking it across the room.

"See what happens when you're in your thoughts?" Saeresa chuckles as she towers over him. Jon glares angrily up at her, trying to break free of the chains. "Magic comes in wonders when you know how to use it."

Ah, that's how she got them on him. He swore if he survived this, he was taking a serious break from magic.

"Alright, you have me locked up. Fucking talk," he grunts, staring at them. "Before your magic fails and ruins us all."

"It will not!" Aenar snaps at him, but Saeresa leaves a hand on his shoulder, before smiling at Jon.

"With pleasure."

---

Daenerys

She hated herself.

Daenerys knew that leaving Jon there with probably the maddest people she had ever met so far in her life was a stupid idea, but she had been blinded by the fact that her children were with her. If she had been smart, maybe she would have killed them, done something, but instead, she had listened to Jon's words.

And regretted it, immensely.

When she passed through the shaft with dragon eggs, she did see that most of them had been taken as Jon had instructed – except one. The very one she and Jon had picked up before. Daemon, seeing it alone, picks it up gently, trying to keep up with her.

As they walked through the shaft, Daenerys made constant checks down at Nesara. She didn't know what they had done to the girl, but it was bad. Very bad. Her blood at this point was dried, meaning she had been unconscious for she didn't even know how long now, but she knew if they didn't get her somewhere quick to be checked out, she would die.

Light started to invade Daenerys' vision, and she sees the entrance to the cave begin to show. The volcano rumbled beneath them.

The moment she stepped out, she could see children reuniting with family members, older people hugging the others. And all she wanted was for Jon to be a part of this.

As soon as Dan saw Daemon, she rushes forward, tears in her eyes, hugging him tightly. Daemon cries out in pain and Dan flinches backward, apologizing profusely, before looking down at her arms, finding them covered in the red substance. "What…what did they do to you?" she whispers. Daemon shakes his head, leaning against a nearby tree.

"They hurt us badly…is what they did."

Dan looks up at Daenerys and her brow furrows. "Where's father?"

"He stayed in the mountain. Saeresa and Aenar are in there." Dan's brow raises in shock and Daenerys nods. "I know…I'm worried as well. But I'm going to trust him, that he can somehow get out."

At that moment, Zaevar and Mae break through the crowd. Mae begins to cry when she sees Nesara broken and beaten, while Zaevar stood in shock, staring down at his unconscious sister. Daenerys gently lowers her into his arms, looking down at him.

"We're going to find help for her soon – but we have another issue."

Zaevar's brow furrows as he tears his eyes away from his sister to look up at Daenerys. "What is it?"

Daenerys swallows and looks to the other fire mages, before letting out a sigh. "People of Valyria!" Everyone turns their heads to face her. "While I am very happy that most of you are reunited with your families, we have a much greater threat at hand." The ground starts to shake beneath them again, this time harder, intense – it was going to happen soon. When the shaking stopped, she could see the fear in the eyes of the Valyrians. "There has been an underground volcano all this time that Saeresa brought the fire mages to. They've been using magic on it to make it erupt. If we don't move now or try to do something, all of Valyria will be destroyed. Unless we have enough dragons to bring us somewhere else, we have to come up with a plan, because I don't think the dragons could fit all of us."

Everyone looks at each other, dumbfounded for words, until one of the little girls, who was a fire mage trapped in one of the cages, stepped forward. "What if we redirected the lava?"

Daenerys' brow furrowed, confused. "How would we do that?"

"No, no, she has a point," Dan states from where she stood, attending to Daemon. "The eruption will never be as bad as the Doom's was because that was multiple volcanoes erupting. If we stay hidden under something, we should be fine. Once the lava begins to flow, if we combine all of our sorcery against it, we should be able to redirect the lava somewhere else."

"Like the sea," Daenerys answers, looking out at the glistening water in the distance.

"Like the sea."

Daenerys nods quietly, before looking to the fire mages. "Are you prepared for a plan such as this?" she asks them, and all of them cheer, agreeing. Daenerys nods, happy that somehow, they might survive this. "Alright. Families, find somewhere safe – if we're lucky, we can avoid the streets of Valyria all together. Fire mages, come with me. We don't have that much time."

They nod and collectively begin to separate from their families, coming to Daenerys while they move through the trees. The ground starts to shake again. Daenerys grabs Dan's hand, as she turns to Zaevar.

"I know you having Nesara in that way is awful, but I need you to protect Daemon while we are gone. Can you do that for me?"

Zaevar quietly nods as he helps Daemon stand, while Mae takes Nesara into her arms. "Of course we can. Stay safe."

Daenerys nods as Zaevar and the others begin to descend down the hill with Daemon. Daenerys swallows and looks at her daughter, before nodding. They needed to do this, or else none of the Valyrians had a chance.

"Let's go." Dan nods and starts to walk with the fire mages, while Daenerys' eyes travel back towards the cave entrance. She realizes with a start that the dragon egg was on the ground. Daemon had dropped it when his exhaustion had kicked in, so she quickly runs over and picks it up, holding it close to her. Dan looks at her as she comes back, her eyes widening in shock.

"Is that a dragon egg?" she whispers.

"Yes, but that's for later. Now, we must head forward." Dan nods once more, turning back to the other mages. Daenerys sighs as they move, praying to all the old gods and the new that this somehow worked. That whatever Saeresa and Aenar had been planning wouldn't happen.

And somehow, someway, Jon stays alive.

---

Jon

"You know, you and she have quite the persistence."

Jon stares up as Saeresa approaches him, her hands behind her back. Aenar stands with Longclaw in his hands. All Jon wanted to do was knock that fucking sword away from him – and then use it slit his throat.

Jon had never grown up being violent. Sure, he had been trained to kill, and he had, but being here brought out a whole different side of him that he didn't even know existed. And if he didn't get out of here soon, he had a feeling it would be released.

"Coming all through the woods, trying to find some useless children to you all to get trapped in a cave under a volcano. Have to say, very, very persistent."

"Are you going to speak or not?" Jon asks angrily. "Getting sick of hearing your voice."

"You know, you should be more kind to the person who has your life in her hands," Saeresa hisses at him. "But if you must know, this has been what we have been planning for years."

She walks closer to him and gestures to around the area that they were in.

"My great ancestors had a dream one night that Valyria was meant to be destroyed. That the Doom was meant to happen all this time. And once we were rebuilt from the ashes, another force more powerful was going to come and erase that. Our family. Our Valyrian lives. We needed to rebuild the world as it once was – not move on from it. To regain the power we had, not keep it inside."

She shakes her head, walking over to the now-empty cages.

"So my ancestors went along with what the red priestesses and priests said for years, to rebuilt and become brighter, better versions or whatever the fuck they would say, while we planned in the shadows, finding new ways to bring our old Valyria back. Over the centuries here, we have brought in loyalists who want the old ways, who are willing to ride their dragons and conquer the world as we were meant to do all this time ago. And years before now, I discovered this volcano."

"It's been hidden, all this time?" he asks quietly. Saeresa nods, a smile on her face.

"It was as if the gods above decided that it was the right moment for me to find it. So, for years, I spent, trying to make this underground cavern indestructible, so it could take out the pathetic excuses for Valyrian's that we have down below us, and reborn a new era of the most powerful in the world."

Jon glares at her. "They aren't pathetic. They want to move on. They want to be free."

"They are nothing without us!" Saeresa snaps at him. "And the quicker they learn that, the better!"

The ground continues to rumble.

"It was hard to bring the children up here, that was for sure. Some of them were fighters – your son included." Jon gets up angrily but Aenar forces him back down. "But they are children and can hardly fight the brute force of a guard. Getting them to work was the hard part. Most did not want to participate in our plan, but as soon as they saw what happened to Nesara and Daemon, well…they had to work. And the ones that didn't were beaten as well."

"What kind of fucking kingdom are you running when one person says no you nearly kill them?!" Jon yells, his rage fueling him. "It's no wonder that they want to move on. You're fucking mad!"

"Says the man who is in love with a true mad queen," the woman states icily.

Jon stands, backing away as Aenar approached him. "Daenerys isn't mad. She never has been. I told you the first day that she was poisoned. She is nothing like you. And could never be. You're torturing children. Not just killing them. Torturing them. Zaevar told me what you've done to him and his sisters – what's next? The whole land?"

"While Zaevar will pay for his admission to you," Saeresa states, her voice laced with anger. "I expect the other kids to die just as the adults will – by the lava this volcano will flow."

Jon glares at her as Aenar slams him back to the ground, definitely cutting something now on his leg, but he doesn't show pain. "What happened to the woman who called off the guards in the throne room?" he asks. "The woman who said we were 'chosen ones?' The one who gave us a home?"

"All an act," Saeresa states, crossing her arms against her chest. "You really think I would openly let you stay here longer than I had to? No. You see, I'm smarter than you think I am, Jon. I kept you here because I knew it would make the villagers known to my plan. It would allow them to think 'why would she turn them away?' I never believed in that hogwash – I only believed in serving what the gods have proclaimed to us for years, and if that meant I had to be nice to your whore of a wife and children, then so be it."

"Don't you dare say that!" Jon screams at her, standing up, and that only causes Aenar to knock him back down.

Saeresa chuckles. "Ah, struck a nerve, have I? You truly are a pity, Jon." She shakes her head. "I hope one day you see that this is what is meant to be, as the gods above have commanded. But then again, you won't live long enough to see it."

Jon was breathing heavily, trying not to lose his mind with this woman. He was getting close to just pushing her into the lava itself, but what good would that do? So he swallows his anger and looks up at her. "Where are your loyalists? The people who bow to this idea?"

"I got them out of the path of destruction days ago. They will be waiting for us when the rest of the village burns. And if you think that just because you let go of all of our people here, everything will still go according to plan. We even have our dragon eggs ready to hatch with our human sacrifices. When they are gone, a new era of dragons will be reborn."

Jon feels his lips turn into a twisted smile, glaring at the woman. "All of your dragon eggs are gone," he snaps.

For a moment, he sees her smug stance falter, and she stares at him in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Tell your king to go check on the eggs – he'll find nothing there," Jon snarls. "I wouldn't let you keep those eggs for a second."

Saeresa turns to Aenar, who seemed quite concerned at the thought of their dragons being taken. "Go check!" she hisses at him. Aenar quickly stands, racing out of the shaft, leaving only Saeresa and Jon. She glares down at him. "If what you say is true, then you have caused a problem in our plans – but Valyria will still burn – as will your family."

"You've forgotten one thing," Jon snaps at her.

Saeresa only glares. "And what would that be?" But before he could reply, Aenar returns. She walks to him, and he only nods, confirming what Jon had said.

As she goes to turn back to Jon, he quickly gets up and jumps over the bindings of his arms so they were in front of him, before running up behind Saeresa. He uses the chains she had placed on him to choke her from behind, bringing her to the ground, tightening them so close to his body that he could feel them leaving dents.

Aenar instantly pulls out Jon's sword, aiming it at Jon. "Drop the sword or I kill her!" Jon commands, his voice a low growl. Aenar does not waiver. Jon begins to tighten his hold on Saeresa, and she gasps out to him, trying to reach Jon. At her need for air, Aenar gives in and drops the sword, the metal clanging against the stone.

The ground suddenly begins to shake heavily, and Jon looks behind him only to see the lava begin to fly into the sky, erupting from the bottom of the volcano, hot bits and pieces flying all over. But Saeresa had been right. Whatever magic the children and other fire mages had performed had stopped the lava from flowing into this one spot. If he wasn't otherwise choking a woman, he would be mesmerized.

"Let her go," Aenar commands.

Jon turns his gaze back to him before suddenly standing, having the woman in his arms, still with the tightest grip he could muster. He walks closer and closer to the plume of lava shooting up into the sky, and, without looking away from Aenar, he sticks the tip of Saeresa's head into the boiling heated rock.

She screams in pain, the horrid sound echoing off the walls. Aenar runs forward, now grabbing his sword, and Jon takes the moment to throw Saeresa to the side and avoid being hit from Aenar, jumping out of the way. As Aenar pulls his sword back, he sees that he had stuck it into the lava plume that Jon had just stood in front of, leaving it melted and unusable.

He glares at Jon before throwing it to the side. "Fine. Let it be hands," he growls, before coming at Jon. He quickly avoids his hits and trips the man to the ground, slamming his foot into his head. As Aenar got back up, Jon runs to a spare piece of rock and slams the chains against it.

They break with ease, his strength being enough, and quickly, he avoids another punch from Aenar, and grabs Longclaw, ducking behind. He takes two steps back, watching Aenar's feet. As he goes to grab the sword from him, Jon side-steps and slams the sword into the man's side, causing him to gasp in pain.

He pushes it in deeper, harder, he could feel the dragon begin to take over, the want to kill him, but this was not his kill. Not yet. He needed them to live. So, he yanks the sword out, watching as Aenar fell to the ground, clutching his side.

Jon wipes the blood clean from his sword with his shirt, noticing that he had gotten cut in the process of trying to get his chains free, but nothing else. After a moment, he looks down at Aenar, who was moaning in pain.

"You think you've won…but you've doomed us all. We are all going to burn thanks to the lava…you've trapped us."

At that moment, Jon leans down real close to him, holding his sword to his body. "I was trying to tell your queen before, but both of you seem to have forgotten something about my family." He places the sword back in his holster, before moving his eyes back to the pathetic excuse for a man beneath him. "Fire does not kill a dragon."

He steps back and closes his eyes, trying to think what Daenerys would do in a time like this. He needed to get back to them, but there was no way he was just leaving these two to burn. No. He promised justice, for the children, for the people, for Zaevar. And he would get justice. So, thinking quietly, trying to summon the bond he had formed with Jonarys, he calls out to him, pleading, praying he came to his aid.

It was quiet for a moment, nothing but the sound of the lava erupting out of the volcano they were in.

And then, the rocks above him suddenly collapse onto the ground, and Jon watches as a way out into the sky appears above his head, the light finally invading into the red darkness of the cave. That little bit of activity was enough to make some of the lava flow in their direction, but he felt no fear.

Instead, he watched as Jonarys flew into his line of vision from the opening, screeching into the wind before his eyes make a connection with Jon's.

"There you are," he whispers, smiling a bit. He walks over to where Saeresa lay. She was unconscious and all of her hair had been burned off of her head, but as he listened closely, he could tell she was still breathing. He hadn't dipped too far into the lava, which was what he had wanted.

Quietly, he grabs the woman into his arms and holds her in the air. Trying to get what he needed Jonarys to do, the dragon descends its mouth down onto her, not hard, but firm enough where he had hold of her, and bends its neck to place her on the dragon's back. He does the same thing with Aenar, who tries to fight him, but the blood loss was too much. Once both of them were on the back of the dragon, Jon climbs up some of the rocks, trying to get himself onto Jonarys, and holds on tightly.

It had been years since he had done this, but it's what needed to be done. So, he quietly takes hold of one of Jonarys' scales, looking down at him and scratching the side of his body, before saying, "Sōvegon."

Jonarys takes off into the sky, leaving the cave and lava behind them. Jon looks as they fly, watching as the plume of lava cascaded down the mountainside, breaking open the earth above it. It was a sight he never thought he would witness.

But he couldn't just stay there and watch the whole time. He needed to find his family. And make these fuckers pay.

---

Daenerys

When it happened, it was terrifyingly beautiful.

Daenerys had heard how when the volcano's erupted during the Doom it lit up the sky fiery red, so much that it was impossible to see the blue that it truly was. Even if this was that on a much smaller scale, she couldn't help but be mesmerized by it.

By the grace of the gods above, most of the dragons that had riders in Valyria came to their aid in helping them get back to the streets of Valyria to successfully get away from the lava that was bound to erupt. Once it did, most had taken shelter. Daenerys had gone with Dan to make sure that she was alright when the fire mages did this.

When the lava had started to flow, she looked to her daughter, who seemed nervous as anyone could be. They had directed multiple fire mages in multiple spots all around the hidden area so they could be prepared at any moment. All of which would fall down to where Dan was.

"Are you ready for this?" she asks her, looking up at the mountain. The volcano erupted around them, and through the corner of her eye, she could see the lava coming down the side.

"I'm as ready as I can be," Dan replies softly, looking up at her. Daenerys squeezes her shoulder, swallowing as more lava began to appear in front of them. She takes several steps back, watching as her daughter prepared herself, but suddenly there was a tug on her hand.

Daenerys looks down to see Zaevar standing there, looking up at her. "I want to help."

Her brow raises in surprise. "What about your sister and Daemon?"

"Mae is taking care of them both. She's been trained with bandages. I can't let Dan do this alone – not when I'm one of the best."

Daenerys rolls her eyes a bit at his statement, but she knew it was true. Zaevar was the person Dan trained with often with her powers, and she knew if anyone could help her direct this entire flow of lava into the sea, it was him.

So, she steps back and gestures to Dan. Zaevar nods and runs forward to her side. Dan looks up from her concentration, and Daenerys sees a sliver of a smile appear on her child's lips before she turns her attention back to the lava approaching them. Daenerys watches with bated breath as it approached closer, and closer, and closer, like a monster looking for its prey. It was hot and intimidating, but Daenerys needed to have faith in them, in the sorcery she had seen.

Suddenly, the two of them raise their hands and chant something in Ancient Valyrian, a language that was so mysterious Daenerys didn't even know most of the words. The lava flow suddenly stops, as if frozen. She stares in shock as they slowly start to make the lava float into the air, hovering above their heads. Bits and pieces fall to the ground, but nothing that could hurt them. Then, with one swift movement, they change their feet direction and move their hands into a fist, before pushing it outwards towards the water.

Within seconds, the lava began flowing, except much quicker. Almost as quick as the speed of a horse, right into the sea beneath them. Daenerys watches in awe as all of the lava begins to transcend over her daughter's head, as well as Zaevar's, and fall right into the sea, steam erupting from where it landed.

Whatever those red priests had been teaching her daughter, she had gotten damn good at it.

It takes only minutes for the speed of the lava to slow, and Daenerys turns her head back to where the large amount had been, only minutes ago. They had reduced the stream to one of a small river, barely even moving.

"I can't hold on much longer!" Dan exclaims from where she stood, her stance wavering.

"It's alright, you can stop!" Daenerys calls out to her.

Dan lets out a breath and steps to the side, as does Zaevar. The lava falls onto the ground and instantly starts to burn where it was, but compared to the amount it was before, it was nothing. Daenerys runs over to her daughter and hugs her tightly, feeling her heart beating out of her chest.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispers, cupping her face.

Dan smiles and looks over at Zaevar. "He helped a lot. I don't know if I would have been able to handle all of it."

"Then thank you, Zaevar," she says to him, holding his hand. "You've been a reason we are alive right now."

Zaevar nods quietly. "I couldn't let her do it alone." Daenerys stands as the fire mages begin to descend down the mountains, many of them climbing onto their dragons to help them leave. One of them flies in front of Dany, her brow furrowed.

"Did we do it? Are we safe?"

"I wouldn't say safe," Daenerys answers. "But I think we eliminated the threat that would hurt many of us. We're going to be okay." The girl smiles and punches the air in victory, before flying off on her dragon. Dan smiles a bit as more and more start to come down, all celebrating. At that moment, the people begin to emerge from their homes, cheering and clapping.

Daenerys smiles as many of them start to cheer her name, as well as Jon's, which only made her smile dampen. She looks down at Dan and Zaevar, before reaching over and grabbing Zaevar's shoulder.

"How about you go back to your family? You've done your duty for now."

Zaevar smiles and nods. He hugs Dan tightly before heading back towards their home where Nesara was for now. As he leaves, Taevar comes forward and smiles at Daenerys. "Thank you for your quick thinking, Daenerys," he says to her. "And for your daughter's sorcery."

"I couldn't do it alone," Dan points out.

Taevar chuckles a bit. "That is true. The others helped as well. But it takes a true sorceress – and sorcerer – to place all that lava into the sea. Truly saved us all. Now we just need to clean the debris that is falling." That was true. Although they had redirected the lava, the volcano was still erupting with pieces of rock flying everywhere. There had to be some areas that had been destroyed.

"I'm sure we can get some clean up happening soon. Right now I'm just happy everyone is back together...at least most of us so far," Daenerys says softly.

Taevar nods and comes forward, grabbing her hands. "We truly are thankful for what you and Jon did, going into that cave…when we watched you head in, we didn't think our children would be in there of all places, but you got them out and set them free. Thanks to you, our families are reunited when we very well could have been killed today by this…volcanic substance, whatever was happening." He sighs and glances at the ground. "The queen and king really did plan to have it explode?"

"That's only what I've heard from the priests and priestesses," she says to him softly. "She locked up Kinvara for months and I don't even know why. They're….full of secrets. That's all I have to say."

"Well…when Jon returns, I think we're going to need a new appointment," Taevar states to her, his eyes stating what everyone else was thinking. Daenerys smiles but feels her shoulders drop. She should be happy. This had been the plan all along, to take over Valyria and stop what Saeresa and Aenar were planning.

Except there was one part that was missing.

"Do you know where Jon is?" he asks her quietly.

"When…we were trying to get everyone out, Saeresa and Aenar appeared from where they had gone in the volcano. Jon stayed there to confront them."

Taevar's brow raises. "What? Why would he stay?"

"He wanted to protect me and the children, but...Taevar," she starts out quietly. "There are…a lot of things that you don't know about the king and the queen. As much as I wanted him to come with me, Jon gets stuck in his pride. He wants them to…get justice for what they have done, for lack of better words. He didn't want them to just burn up in lava."

Taevar's brow raises again. "He's sounding more like a Targaryen each day."

"I know," Daenerys whispers, her eyes to the mountain again. "It's what's worrying me. I don't know if he…he's going to make it out of this. I mean…how would he? The volcano was practically erupting when we left. I don't know…I just don't."

Taevar looks at her before resting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, we're going to be waiting for him. I trust he will be okay…I have a feeling he'll always find his way back to his family."

Daenerys offers a small smile of appreciation at his attempt to make her feel better – but quite frankly, she didn't think anything would heal her nerves until she saw Jon appear over the mountain. "Thank you, Taevar…go back to your wife and son - they're calling for you."

Taevar looks behind him and sees his wife and child – who had just appeared after being captured – calling for him. Taevar smiles and heads off, leaving just Daenerys and Dan. She smiles as she could saw many people talking and reuniting, watching the sky change colors during the eruption now that they were safer from the lava. Some were laughing, others crying tears of joy, but all she could think about was Jon. Dan looked up at her, and as soon as she saw her expression, Daenerys knew she was thinking the same worrisome thing.

"Do…do you really think he…"

Her daughter's words trail off as she looks to the ground, biting her lip. Daenerys sighs and descends down to her daughter's height, taking her hands into her own.

"I don't want to think that, Dan," she starts out carefully, trying to hide her own emotions. "But we need to expect the worst. We can only hope that he somehow made it out. I'm not saying it's impossible…but we just need to pray he did." Dan's lip starts to quiver, and Daenerys places a hand over it. "Don't do that, because if you do, I'm going to cry, and that's not what we need."

Dan sniffles but nods, looking at the ground. She comes forward and hugs her mother tightly, and Daenerys does the same, wrapping her arms around the girl. Quietly, Dan whispers, her voice broken, "I don't want him to die."

Daenerys shuts her eyes, willing the tears not to come. "I don't want that either, sweetling." She pulls back and kisses her daughter's forehead, offering her a reassuring smile. "And hopefully, he's not."

Before Dan could speak, however, there was a sudden screech from the sky. Daenerys looks up and stands tall, trying to see who's dragon was calling out to them.

And then, she feels herself still once she sees the familiar blue hue appear along the horizon, one of her dragons coming home.

There, sitting atop of Jonarys, was Jon, holding onto the dragon tightly, while two bodies sat in between him and the front of the beast. Daenerys felt her heart drop as Dan runs forward, screaming "father!"

Jon flies Jonarys over to where she stood, before landing gracefully on the area that hadn't been burnt by the running lava. He tosses the bodies onto the ground, and she feels herself stare in shock. There was Aenar, unconscious and bloody, and Saeresa, with a completely burned head, no hair. What on earth had Jon done?

Then, he comes down off the dragon himself and turns to Daenerys. And she witnesses the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

"I miss anything?" he asks, his voice a joking matter, but Daenerys didn't care, not moving out of pure shock. Dan ran forward first, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly. He returns the hug just as hard, burying his face in her neck, before she jumps down, tears in her eyes.

"I thought you were dead," she whispers.

"I could never leave you behind," he says to her softly, hugging her again. Once he pulls back and Dan steps to his side, smiling brightly, Jon looks over at Daenerys, who was still, frozen in her spot. He comes over to her, that same smile on his face. "I told you I'd be okay."

She breaks out of her reverie and punches him in the chest. Hard. So hard that he actually flinches and steps back. "That's for worrying the shit out of me," she hisses at him, and he offers an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry. They were standing right there. It's not like I could have just left them. You needed to get out before they hurt you and the children both." He walks back towards her. "Please, Dany...I just wanted to see you safe. And if I died, then I could be content knowing you escaped the cave."

Daenerys shakes her head and comes forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. And then, she kisses him with so much passion, the most she could muster and could have sworn he lost his footing at it. When she pulls back, she rests her forehead against his. "That's for getting back safely to us. And don't you dare say you're content dying. That's not okay with me."

Jon smiles at her statement but rests his hand against his chest. "You punch hard."

Daenerys rolls her eyes and steps away. "How…how did you get out of there?"

Jon simply looks over at Jonarys, who lets out a screech again. "I called out to him and he came to me – broke open a whole damn entrance out of the cave."

Daenerys smiles. "You have my thanks, Jonarys," she says to the dragon, who simply lets out a small growl of praise. She looks over at Jon and shakes her head. "You shouldn't have done that alone. You had all of us nervous."

"I know, but I knew I could take them on. I just needed a way out, and I didn't want to endanger you or the children in that. They were already hurt as it is. And besides, I was able to beat them easily when I could focus on just them," he says to her, turning to where the two unconscious forms lay. Daenerys raises an eyebrow and then turns back to him.

"Right, I wanted to know what you did to them."

"Enough to keep them out cold for a bit." She guessed that would be the extent she would get now.

She looks over to the people who start to come towards him, the nobles and the common folk alike who had followed them into the forest to find their children. Taevar was at the front, with his child in his arms. "Taevar. Your family is safe," Jon says with a smile.

"Thanks to you. All of you." He glances over at the unconscious forms of Aenar and Saeresa, before moving his gaze back to Jon. "We have waited for years for true rulers to restore our world. To let us go free. After seeing what they did to our children, and how you protected them and brought them back to us, this seems only fit for the true rulers."

He lowers down his son, before taking out his sword. Suddenly, he plants it into the ground, looking at the two of them.

"Daenerys and Jon of House Targaryen. When we needed your service, you came abiding. When we needed our children saved, you took the call without question. My family is safe because of you. Our lives are saved because of you. Forget the tradition of the Galeron's and Valgyreon's ruling over our home. I believe it is time for a new age – the Targaryen's. Kostagon aōha ondor ōregon maghagon kirimves se lyks!"

'May your reign bring joy and peace,' Daenerys thinks, smiling a bit. Jon takes her hand as Taevar lifts his sword into the air, looking at the two of them.

"Our king and queen of Valyria!"

One by one, the people around them begin to do the same, digging their swords into the ground, before raising it high into the air, cheering and chanting the same phrase, over and over. Daenerys looks up at Jon, who smiles back at her.

It had worked. Their plan had worked. Maybe not without loss or fail – considering no one expected a bloody volcano to erupt – but it had worked. And now, people would be safe. They could be safe. And maybe the world could experience Valyria once more.

Daenerys reaches over and grabs Dan's hand. She wished Daemon could be a part of this, but she knew he was resting and healing. In time, he would be honored for his bravery in trying to keep Nesara safe, once he was awake and feeling better.

Together, they raise their hands in celebration, the rest of the Valyrian's around them shouting as well. For now, the blood of Valyria stayed strong and went on to live another day.

And as Daenerys glances over at the unconscious bodies of Aenar and Saeresa, she had one thought on her mind. One of the first acts they would do as rulers.

Bring justice.

---

Their reign has just begun.

I always find it very hard to write stories where there are many villains and there's so much going on that you have to include as much detail as possible, but I feel like I did a good job here lol let me know because this is the most I've ever written and I'm nervous ngl haha and of course next chapter will bring on the start of their rule - and it's only going to go up and get more crazy from here.

As always, love it? Hate it? Want to shoot me down with arrows like Ramsey did to Rickon (did I use that already? We'll see)? Let me know in the reviews, as they always keep me pushing out these chapters and trying to make them better for you. You guys have really been fueling me into writing this. I was so scared initially putting this out there but you guys are so accepting and mean the absolute world to me, and writing this for you has been a great experience and I'm some excited for the story to continue, so let me know what you guys think! Don't forget to follow or favorite if you want to join us on the adventure, and I will see you all in the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have an awesome day! Wash your hands and stay healthy! :)